The white flame
by memyselfI234
Summary: A continuation of the KHR story with a few new characters, a new flame, and a new villain. Mostly action based with a little bit of romance. Credit for all non-original characters to: Akira Amano, Shueisha, NA / UK Viz Media, Kenichi Imaizumi, Nobuaki Kishima, Artland, TV Tokyo, Hideaki Koyasu.
1. Chapter 1

She looked down at the note in her hand; it read 'the one you are looking for is in Namimori High'. She remembered the picture of a goofy looking kid that it came along with. _Why a high school?_ She thought. She let out a sigh and headed inside the building, _might as well give it a try, not like things could really get any worse_. She estimated she had about a week before they found her.

**Somewhere on the way to the school**

Tsuna had woken up late for school so he was running to school when he ran head first into Enma also hurrying. They both yelled out and their school bags went flying.

"S-S-sorry" they both stuttered at the same time. Then Tsuna looked up and saw Enma rubbing his head. And as soon as they both realized who they had run into they burst out laughing. But they stopped abruptly when they heard Reborn mutter "what are you idiots doing?" behind them.

"If you don't hurry you're both gonna be late" he continued

"Argh" they both yelled, they picked up their bags and started running together

**Back at Namimori High**

"So you're saying you want to enroll here?" the principal asked the young girl standing in front of him. She looked normal enough with reddish brown hair and cream colored skin. But her eyes were an unusual green which gave hint to her non-Japanese lineage.

"Yes, I have a note here from my guardian and the results of the entrance exam" she replied

"You took the entrance exam? I don't quite remember you miss, um…what was your name again?"

"Oh, my name is Sakura Simons. I took the entrance exam but I had to leave the city for a few months and was only able to receive my results in the mail. This is also why I missed the entrance ceremony. I hope this is not a problem"

"Oh well looking at these results that should not be a problem" The girls results were indeed impressive, they were the third highest of all the applicants.

"Great, here is the class I would like to attend" she said and slid him the note she had received. She had of course out the first part as that would only raise suspicions.

"Well the student picking their class is a bit…unorthodox"

"I realize that but this is my first time in a Japanese school and I feel that I will only be able to adjust properly if I go to this class since an old friend of mine is also in this class"

"Oh I see and what might be the name of this student?"

"Tsunayoshi Sawada"

**in Class 1-C*

Tsuna and Enma simultaneously burst into the classroom. They thought for sure that they would be late and would once again get an earful from their homeroom teacher. But the teacher was not in the room and the students were still talking amongst themselves indicating that class had not yet started.

Tsuna walked over to Gokudera and Haru who were as always bickering over something. "Good Morning Gokudera" he said cheerfully, albeit a little breathlessly.

"Tenth! Good Morning" Gokudera said excitedly.

"Did class not start yet?"  
"The teacher came in a little bit ago and said that there was a new student she had to take care of so we should just wait for a bit"

"A new student? But it's already the middle of the year"

Just then their homeroom teacher walked in and everyone scrambled to their seats. "As I said before today we will be getting new student today. Everyone please welcome her warmly" she said as a girl with brown hair in thick braids and dull green eyes walked into class.

"Will you please introduce yourself?" Sensei said turning to the girl

"Good morning everyone my name is Sakura Simons and I am from Italy. This is my first time in a Japanese school and I hope to get along with everyone"

Sensei turned to the girl and whispered something to her and then pointed in Tsuna's direction. The girl nodded and replied something quietly while smiling. Then she made her way to an empty seat behind Kyoko Sasagawa.

"Ok then let's get started with the day" Sensei said turning to the board behind her.

**a few hours later at lunch**

The new girl was surrounded by a bunch of students. They were asking her various questions like whether she was Japanese and why her name was Sakura. From what Kyoko heard the girl had been born in Italy to Italian parents but because of her father's admiration of Japan and Japanese culture she had been named Sakura. Recently her father had a job transfer and moved to Japan, her father had slowly taught her Japanese over the years so she had no real communication problems.

"Excuse me a moment, I need to make a call and let my father know that the transfer went well" she said and left the room

She made her way to quiet and fairly isolated part of the school. She let out a long sigh. _This is not going well,_ she thought. The boy looked just as wimpy as in the picture. There was no way he could help her.

"Caiossu" she heard from behind her and quickly turned around to see a toddler standing on a vent behind her.

"H-hello..?"

"Are you the one sent by the tenth?" the toddler said. She just stared at him in surprise. How did this child know who had sent her. "I'll take that as a yes, and I suppose that deep sigh meant that you're not impressed by my student"

She realized that this child was not ordinary. She could guess who he was. "No I am not; he won't stand a chance against them. I'll be better off alone." She said with an un-amused and slightly irritated expression. She had wasted an entire day on this crap.

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge, you have not even seen his full potential"

"Hmph, I doubt he will amount to much"

"Well then why don't you give him a test?"

"Are you sure about that? If he is as weak as I think he is I might just end up killing him"

"That won't happen, I am willing to bet my reputation as the great hit man Reborn on it" the child replied confidently

"You're reborn?" Sakura replied in surprise just as the infant jumped off of the vent and onto a nearby window.

"Wait I have questions to ask you" she yelled as he jumped down from the window, but the infant had already disappeared. "Crap" she muttered. After a while she decided that he was not coming back and she would not find him any time soon. She headed back to the classroom.

**back in the room**

"Tsuna-kun do you happen to know the new student?" Kyoko asked

They were all sitting together and having lunch.

"N-no, why do you ask?" Tsuna replied, a bit surprised. He had felt a bit off when he first saw the girl. She did somehow seem familiar.

"Well she mentioned you when she was talking to the homeroom teacher as she was leaving"

"Hmm… I did get a familiar feeling from her but I don't think I know her"

"You got that too?" Enma asked looking up from his lunchbox.

"E-ehh, you too?" Tsuna asked and Enma nodded in response.

"What could this mean?" Gokudera wondered aloud at about the same time that Haru exclaimed, "How mysterious!"

Just as Gokudera was about to say something Reborn came out of nowhere and jumped on Tsuna's head.

"Argh" Tsuna yelled as his head was buried in his nearly empty lunch box.

"What did you do that for?" he nearly yelled cleaning the rice from his face.

"Ahh, here use this" Kyoko said handing Tsuna a handkerchief.

"Thank you, Kyoko-chan" Tsuna said taking wiping his face. _Maybe Reborn's kick wasn't that bad,_ he thought blushing slightly.

"Wipe that stupid look of you face" Reborn said pulling Tsuna out of his fantasy. "I need you to stop by the park on your way home"

"Wait, why?"

"You come to Enma" reborn said ignoring Tsuna

"Hold on what do you want from us?" Tsuna said getting a little worried. He was used to his mafia teacher's strange whims but what would he want from Enma

"Aren't you two curious about the new girl?"

"Wait do you know something?" Tsuna asked as Enma looked up in attention

"Stop asking stupid questions and just be there" Reborn replied kicking Tsuna in the face. "You'll come too, right?" he then asked turning his attention to Enma

"Of-ofcourse" he stuttered out fearing the consequences of protesting.

Reborn left the room just as Tsuna picked himself up with help from Gokudera.

"What could he be up to now?" Tsuna mumbled as he saw Reborn disappear out if the room

**end of the school day**

"Don't worry Tenth, I'll make sure you're safe" Gokudera said as Tsuna, him, and Enma left the school.

"You don't have to come, Gokudera-kun. This probably one of Rebron's random trainings" Tsuna replied

"But there is something strange about that girl" Enma said

"He's right. It would be safer if I came with you two. Not that I doubt that you can't take care of yourself"

"Thank you Gokudera-kun." Truthfully Tsuna was a bit worried, there was definitely something strange about the new girl. Even Enma had felt it. He only hoped that he and his friends wouldn't get pulled into something dangerous again.

**at the park**

"Are you sure he'll even come" Sakura asked Reborn who was hiding in a tree.

"Don't worry he'll be here and then you can test him and see just how strong he is" Reborn replied

"We'll see about that" Sakura said just as she saw three figures approaching the gate

**in Tsuna's group**

The three boys walked into the park and saw the girl standing by a tree near the swings. She was wearing shorts and long shirt with a small hat on her head.

"So you actually showed up" she said in surprise as they got close

"U-um, do I know you?" Tsuna said hesitatingly.

"I'm not sure" Sakura replied

"Did you call us here?" Enma asked. The more he looked at her the more familiar this girl seemed.

"Indirectly I guess, I simply wanted to test you. Reborn chose the place and method"

"What do you mean test?" Tsuna asked

"We're going to fight. If you die, you fail. If you don't die, you pass"

Tsuna backed away in fear just as Gokudera yelled, "Like hell I'll let you hurt the tenth", as he headed towards her.

Sakura simply looked at him calmly as Reborn jumped out of the tree and stopped Gokudera in his tarcks. "This isn't your fight" he said. Gokudera knew better then to cross the Arcabaleno but he still clenched his fists in frustration. _What kind of right-hand man would just stand by as his boss fought a tough enemy_ he thought in anger.

"Don't worry, despite what she says she is not a brutal person. Tsuna get ready" Reborn said both calming Gokudera and alerting Tsuna

"Yea get ready, Decimo" Sakura said

Tsuna quickly turned in her direction only to see empty space. He sensed something behind him and turned in time to see a punch headed his way. She hit him in the stomach with enough force to send him flying.

"Tsuna" "Tenth", Enma and Gokudera yelled together.

Enma put his ring on his hand just as Tsuna stumbled to his feet and also pulled his ring from around his neck. They both activated their flames and turned to face Sakura.

"I guess I should get serious too" she said quietly. The two boys looked decidedly more threatening than before. She pulled out the intricately designed ring she always kept with her. This was the thing that allowed her to pull out her true power and she had had it for as long as she could remember. She closed her eyes and slowly opened them. When she did her eyes were a bright turquoise and on her head shone a bright white flame.

Tsuna and Enma both stared at her in wonder as she said, "Ok then let's do this" and before either of them could even register what she had she was behind them. She kicked out just as Enma doged to the left and Tsuna flew up.

This was not an opponent they could fight half-heartedly. "Distract her" Tsuna yelled out as he started charging up and aiming the X-burner.

"Oh no you don't" Sakura said as she started to head in Tsuna's direction. But she realized she could barely move. "What in the..?" she mumbled and saw Enma holding his hand out in her direction.

"You think this will stop me?" she said shifting her attention and she felt the strange pressure increase. _Is this kid actually controlling gravity?_ , she thought. Then she felt heat and turned to see the large flame growing behind Tsuna. _This is getting dicey._ She decided to go all out as well. She charged her flames to her feet and quickly propelled herself out of Enma's gravity control. Before he could register what had just happened she was behind Enma. She once again charged her flame to her feet and kicked Enma aiming at Tsuna in the air just as Tsuna finished charging up the X-burner. Enma had no time to get out of the way and was hit by the full blast.

"Enma!" Tsuna yelled realizing what had just happened. He quickly propelled himself in Enma's direction and caught him before he hit the ground. He was badly injured but he was still breathing.

"I won't forgive you for that", Tsuna said turning to Sakura. She saw the determination in his eyes and realized that Reborn had been right. She sighed and turned her eyes to the red head on the ground.

"That's enough, you pass already", she said walking towards the two.

"Stay back" Tsuna said in a low but determined tone.

"I won't fight you anymore" Sakura said putting her hands up and deactivating her flame. "I can help him" she said hoping that Tsuna would let her help before the boy's condition got worse. He really was badly injured she realized as guilt set in.

Tsuna looked at the girl standing before him with her hands up and regret in her eyes. For some reason he felt he could trust her. "OK" he said as he stepped out of the way and deactivated his flame.

"Thank you" Sakura said and quickly walked over to Enma on the ground. She put her hands on his chest and closed her eyes. Enma's body was engulfed in a white light bright enough to make Tsuna look away. When he looked back all the wounds on Enma's body had disappeared along with older ones from before the fight.

"He should be fine now" Sakura said just as Enma's eyes fluttered open. As soon as he saw Sakura leaning over him jumped up and took a fighting stance.

"Enma wait" Tsuna said before Enma started the fight again. "She said she won't fight anymore"

"What? Why?" Enma said surprised. The girl had seemed so determined before. "Why did you start the fight in the first place?" Enma said turning to the girl.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean for either of you to get hurt. I just needed to test you. To see if you had the will and power for what I need" she replied feeling even more guilty at the results of the fight

"What do you mean?" Enma and Tsuna asked at the same time

"I need your help. I am currently in a dangerous situation. There has been someone who has been after me for a long time. Up until a few months ago I was able to handle them on my own but now they have gotten a lot stronger. I was hoping not to get you two or you families involved in this but now I am left with no choice. Vongola and Simon Decimo will you help me?" she said looking at them with anticipation.


	2. Chapter 2

**_***fixed some grammatical errors***_**

 ** _[Hello I am sorry that this chapter took such a long time to write. I wasn't sure whether to continue this. This chapter is a lot of exposition so I'm sorry if it gets on anyone's nerves. Once the bad guys show I am planning to speed things up. I hope you enjoy this story and thank you for reading]_**

Sakura stood under a tree and watched the boys speaking to the toddler. The boys were a lot stronger than she initially thought. She knew that without their help she was 80 percent screwed. Her enemy was getting stronger every day and despite her best efforts she was not. Even though she felt guilty about dragging the boys and their friends into the fight she knew she really had no choice.

 ***in Tsuna's group***

"Do you know what she's talking about, Reborn?" Tsuna asked. He didn't want to drag his friends into another dangerous situation but the girl had looked desperate. He felt like he should try and help her.

"I don't know much more then you. The ninth sent me a letter a few days ago saying an old friend of the family was coming to visit and that you should help her." Reborn replied

"How can she be an old friend of the family? She looks about the same age as us" Enma said looking at Sakura. She looked really familiar but he couldn't quite remember where he knew her from.

"She looks fishy to me. I don't trust her" Gokudera said. He had been glaring at the strange girl for a while but she seemed to be completely ignoring him.

"Well the ninth seems to trust her and I trust him. I think you guys will learn something by helping her" Reborn said.

Tsuna realized with horror that he really didn't have a choice about helping the girl. It was clear that Reborn would make him help whether he wanted to or not.

" I can't just drag the others into something dangerous without asking them" he sighed hoping to change Reborn's mind. He wanted to help the girl but he remembered how badly his friends had gotten injured in the past.

"You're underestimating your family Tsuna" Reborn said

Tsuna looked unconvinced. As he was about to argue more Enma spoke up.

"I want to help her. She looks really familiar and I feel like I have to help her. I don't know if the others will agree with me but I'm going to try and get their help too."

This was strange. Tsuna could attribute the weird feeling he got from the girl to his hyperintuition. But why was Enma getting the same vibes from the girl.

"I suppose it can't hurt to atleast hear her out" Tsuna said giving in. Enma smiled a little hearing that and turned to wave Sakura over to their group.

When she walked over he asked her if she'd be willing to let them know what exactly this enemy she spoke about was.

"Oh damn. I guess if you're gonna help me you'd want to know more about what you're getting yourselves into. But this could take a while and it's getting dark maybe we should go somewhere more private and warmer" She said looking at the darkening sky."And the you need some new clothes unless you want to where the spare skirt I have with me" She continued turning to look at Enma.

"I-I-I think my own cloths would be better."he said. He looked down and realized for the first time how badly burned his trousers were.

"I'm sorry for that. Maybe we can talk at my house. You can borrow some of my cloths, Enma." Tsuna said. Thinking of how anxious Sakura had looked he thought that maybe she wanted to confirm Their help quickly.

"I'm sorry too. And yes it would be best if we got this over with quickly." She said slinging her bag over her shoulder."Shall we get going then?" She said turning to Tsuna.

 ***at the Sawada house***

Tsuna opened the door and was immediately jumped by Lambo.

"She's being mean" Lambo cried as I-Pin came chasing after him.

"Lambo! You have to take you bath" She yelled, which only caused Lambo to cry louder and crawl onto Tsuna's back, who was now sitting on the ground.

"If you take your bath then I'll make you a yummy snake" Nana said coming down the stairs. She wearing an apron which, along with her sleeves seemed to be wet.

"Really?" Lambo said and jumped off of Tsuna. He ran upstairs laughing gleefully with I-Pin chasing after him.

"Oh! Lambo wait! Tsu-kun why don't take your friends to the sitting room?" Nana said quickly as she went after the two kids.

"Ok, mom" Tsuna said getting up. He still wasn't used to how loud his home had become. "Come inside, guys." He said taking off his shoes and walking to the sitting room. He saw Bianchi sitting there already watching TV.

"Sis!?" Gokudera said in surprise and clutched at his stomach as soon as he walked into the room.

"Hey! Is he ok?" Sakura asked. She didn't like the guy but she still felt concerned. He really looked like he was in pain.

"Oh, he'll be fine. He gets like that whenever he sees Bianchi. Oh um I should introduce you I suppose. Bianchi this is Sakura. She's um…a friend. A-and Sakura this is Bianchi, Gokudera's sister. She's also a part of the Vongola family" Tsuna explained

"Hello, so now you're bringing girls other than Haru and Kyoko home? High School boys are scary" Bianchi said looking over Sakura. She was a pretty normal looking kid, except for her eyes. That was the first time Bianchi had seen such vivid green eyes.

"Sh-she's just a friend and I only met her today" Tsuna stammered trying to explain. Bianchi just looked at him with a slightly amused smirk on her face.

"Uh-hum! If I may interject." Sakura said trying to take some pressure off of Tsuna. "We are simply business partners, nothing else"

"Business partners?" This was strange. Bianchi was suddenly on edge, strange things were never good where Tsuna was concerned.

"Don't be alarmed. I am not here to harm anyone. I simply require assistance from the young Decimo" Sakura said hoping to keep the woman from starting a fight.

"Calm down sis, the ninth sent her" Gokudera said, recovering from his stomach ache

" I will explain everything if you would give me a chance. Since you are part of the Vongola I feel that it is safe to share my story with you as well." The girl said

"Ok, then get explaining" Bianchi replied sitting back down

" Well I suppose I should clear some things up before I start. My last name is not Simons and I didn't come here with my parents. My parents were both killed when I was five years old. My last name is Akagi and my parents were both born in Japan. They fled to Italy and that is where I was born." She said and turning to Tsuna and Enma sitting across from her she continued "As you guys saw earlier I have the ability to pull out my inner strength in the form of a white flame. The first time I did this was when I was about 4 yrs old and because I had no control over it I ended up hurting a friend of mine. We moved after that and that is when my dreams started"

"Dreams? What do you mean?" Tsuna asked

 ** _[the rest is a flashback into Sakura's past with her speaking at some points to make it go faster]_**

 _There she was again._ The women with long white hair and shining green eyes was back in Sakura's dream. Sakura knew she was dreaming because she floating above a vast green space when only moments before she had been in her room.

Sakura didn't like her new room it was a lot smaller then her old one and it smelled funny. She missed her old town and her friends. She didn't understand why they had to leave. She knew it had something to do with the accident but she had already said sorry. So she didn't know why her parents were still angry. Her eyes welled up as she remembered her friend's scream.

" _Don't cry, my dear"_ the woman said in a gentle voice.

"But my friend. I didn't mean to hurt her. I said sorry so why is everyone mad at me?" Sakura cried

" _Your parents are not angry, they are simply trying to protect you. There is a dangerous man after you and now that your powers have awakened he will find you."_

"W-what? But I didn't do anything to any man!"

" _I know my dear. This is not because of anything you did but you need to protect yourself nonetheless. I will teach you how to use your new powers so you can protect yourself and your family"_

 _"_ Will that mean we won't have to move again?"

" _Maybe"_

 _"_ OK then I'll do it" Sakura said with determination balling her little hands into fists.

" _I will visit you in your dreams and teach you how to use your powers" the woman said smiling_

 _"Oh and by the way my name is Sakurai"_

 _"_ My name's Sakura. They sound similar"

" _They do indeed" the woman replied_ as Sakura woke up to the sun shining in from a small window.

(That was my first encounter with Sakurai and over the course of the next few months she taught me all about the white flame and its properties and how to use it for defense and then one night while I slept the worst happened)

Sakura lie in her bed dreaming and talking with Sakurai. She was teaching how to channel the flame to different parts of her body to make her attacks stronger. Sakurai's face suddenly became panicked.

" _You have to wake up" she yelled_. And before Sakura could ask her any questions she was jerked awake. She saw her mother's panicked face in front of her.

"We have to leave now. Grab you suitcase and go to the chimney closet" her mother said

"But I'm tired" Sakura whined

"Do not argue with me right now" her mother said sternly. Her mother was hardly ever stern with Sakura. She obeyed her quickly and pulled out the small case from under her bed and ran to the secret closet under the chimney. Her mother grabbed her as she was about to enter.

"Honey promise me that whatever you hear you will not come out of their until you run out of food. Please" her mother said

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked her eyes tearing up. She knew something bad was going to happen and she was terrified.

"Please, Sakura. Promise me" her mother insisted with tears falling down her own face.

"Okay" Sakura said crying

Her mother embraced her just as her father ran into the room. He saw the two on the floor and hugged them.

"Your mother and I love you very much Sakura and whatever happens I want you to know that we will always be watching over you." He told her as he pushed her into the closet.

"Nooo. Mama! Papa!" She cried just as a loud bang sounded above them. Her father made a shushing motion and quickly closed the closet.

 ** _[Flashback ends here]_**

"I-I'd rather not go into too much detail here. _Even after all these years that night still haunted her._ I fell asleep crying and woke to an empty house. It was completely trashed and I couldn't find my parents. That was the first time Sakurai spoke to me outside my dreams and she instructed me to take the suitcase and run. It was filled with some extra cloths and currency from several different countries. I've been on the run ever since" Sakurai said finishing her story

Everyone was silent. Surprisingly, it was Enma who broke the silence. "I'm sorry about your parents" he said quietly. Sakura looked up at him and saw understanding in his eyes.

"Thank you" she said smiling a little. "That was my first brush with the enemy I need your help with. He is a very powerful and dangerous man, if he can even be called that anymore. His name, or at least the name he has been given is Pandora" she said continuing

"Pandora? Like Pandora's box?" Gokudera asked.

"Yes and that legend describes his power quite well. He also controls the white flame like me. But he controls a different aspect of it. You probably noticed my speed during our fight." She said and both Enma and Tsuna nodded.

"Well that wasn't all because of propulsion. It was a combination of that and me slowing down time" Sakura continued

"Time! You can control time?" Bianchi said surprised. If that was true then this girl could be very dangerous. Even Reborn was surprised to hear this.

"Yes, you see the white flame like the color white is an origin flame. Meaning that rather than controlling something like the clouds or storms which are bound by space and time it controls space and time themselves. And even though there have been several others like me who can control the time aspect the only one known to be able to control the space aspect is Pandora" Sakura explained.

"So that's what makes him so dangerous. He could easily escape any attacks we throw at him by moving them through to another space" Reborn said

"No way, that sounds really bad" Tsuna said. The more he heard the more messier this whole thing seemed.

"Yes but that's not the most dangerous thing. You see Pandora seems to have discovered some secret of the white flame and is able to use it to imprison other flames. That's why I said his power was like Pandora's box. Except instead of trapping evil he traps those he thinks will make powerful allies and forces them to work with him. Some of them have been in his control for so long they have forgotten any other lives they had." Sakura said

"So you're saying that he could trap one us a too and make us turn against our friends?" Enma said

"Yes but it's not that bad. You see a long time ago when Pandora was wreaking havoc one of my ancestors trapped him and his followers in a prison of time. No matter where he moved through space he couldn't escape that prison. But without one of us fueling it the prison gets weaker so every generation the one who holds the white flame of time has to reseal the prison. Right now the prison is weakening and even though Pandora himself can't escape some of his followers can and they were the ones who attacked my home and the ones who have been chasing me" Sakura said quickly hoping to calm everyone

"Then why don't you just reseal the prison already?" Gokudera asked. If she had a solution already then why was she dragging the tenth into something so dangerous.

"It's not that simple. Resealing the prison takes a lot of power and I am not strong enough yet. If I attempt to reseal it now it could backfire and I could end up destroying it. I need time to learn how to properly utilize the white flame. But for some reason the prison is weakening a lot faster than it ever has before and more of Pandora's followers are showing up. With them chasing after me I don't have a chance to find Sakurai and train" she explained

At their questioning looks she said "Last year she stopped appearing in my dreams and I stopped hearing her voice. It was at about the same time that more of them showed up and I haven't had a chance to investigate properly. I have to keep moving to keep them from finding me. Please I need your help fending them off while I search for Sakurai"

"I'm going to need some time to think and talk to my friends" Tsuna said

"I'll also need to ask my family" Enma chimed in

"I figured as much but please hurry. I used several different modes of transportation to get here so I think I have a little time before they find me but I give it 6 more days tops. So if you don't give me an answer in the next 4 days I will have to leave." Sakura said

"4 days? That's a little soon" Tsuna said. The enemy would be here in less than a week. He panicked thinking about it.

"I am truly sorry for having to involve you. I wouldn't ask this if I had other options. I hope you'll think about it. Now I think I should head home before the sun completely sets" She said getting up and collecting her belongings.

"I-I'll leave with you" Enma said getting up


	3. Chapter 3

*Enma and Sakura walking back*

It was getting a little chilly and Enma was glad he had borrowed some of Tsuna's cloths. He would have caught a cold if he had been wearing his burned cloths which now lay in his backpack. He turned to look at Sakura. She was wearing the sweatshirt she had let him borrow. But she still seemed cold.

"It was warm in the morning so I wore shorts, why is it so cold now?" She asked noticing him looking at her.

"I don't know. Sometimes the nights get cold fast" he replied. "I-if you don't mind me asking what did you do after?" he asked

"After what?" She hoped he wouldn't ask what she thought he was going to.

"After you left your home" he continued. He wanted to know more about her. He figured he just wanted to figure out why she looked familiar to him.

Sakura's expression darkened and she took a deep breath before replying, "I ran. I followed Sakurai's instructions and left the city. I went to a small town and stayed there for a little while. Then I moved again when Sakurai told me we'd stayed there long enough". For some reason she felt comfortable sharing her story with this kid. She remembered what she knew of his Family's history and realized that he would probably understand her story better then anyone.

"So you've been alone this entire time." Enma said. He remembered how his life had been before meeting Tsuna. At least he had his family with him. He felt sad knowing that she had to live alone for so long.

"Oh no. Well I was never really alone. Sakurai was with me and she sort of looked after me. I think Sakurai has some sort of power to peek at the future because she always kept me out of trouble. A five year old couldn't possibly have survived on her own in the world. And once I was old enough and..well sneaky enough to fly to a different country I went to Berlin and met an old friend of my parents. That was about 5 years ago and she's handled all the legal guardian stuff for me. So you can stop looking so down I'm not a lonely lost child or anything" She finished jokingly

"Oh well I'm glad" Enma replied blushing a little

"Why? This is the first time we've met so why should you be glad?" She asked.

"Oh well I'm not exactly sure...but well I keep getting the feeling that I know you " he replied hastily

Sakura's eyes widened and she stopped walking. "Wait you're getting that feeling too? And what about Sawada?" She asked

"Uh..yea Tsuna also said he got the same feeling. Wait does this mean we look familiar to you too?" Enma replied stopping ahead of her

"Yes, damn it now what is this supposed to mean? If only Sakurai were here, I'm sure she would know how to explain this. Now I feel the need to find her even more" She said and started walking again

"How are you planning on doing that? Is Sakurai even someone you can find?"

"Yes, she is my ancestor so she also has the white flame of time. I think she used it to somehow send herself into our time. But I'm not sure if she sent her physical body or just her mind. If it's the later then it definitely makes things harder"

"Hmm...Reborn might know something about that...or maybe not" Enma didn't really understand how you could find a disembodied mind.

"The thing is I just don't know enough about the white flame. Sakurai vanished before she could teach me things beyond the basics. And without a teacher it's a lot harder to figure out how this flame works. I've read all the physics books I can find trying to understand the concept of time and what manipulating it would mean. But it's hard to actually apply the theories." Sakura replied as she slowed her pace

They'd stopped in front of an apartment building. " This is where I'm staying. I hope it wasn't too out of your way" She said realizing that she'd led him to her apartment without even asking if it would take him farther from his house

"Uh no I still need to go a little farther in the same direction." he replied

"Oh ok that's good." She said. They stood awkwardly for a few seconds. Sakura seemed like she was going to say something but was having trouble phrasing it

"Ok well I'll see you in school" Enma said beginning to walk away

"W-wait. I..umm...I'm sorry for dragging you into this and um thank you for saying you'll help. You don't even know me and yet you were willing to help so thank you. I don't know how I'll repay you for this but thank you" She said quickly

"You don't have to repay me. I just felt like I should really help you. So you don't need to be so apologetic" he replied blushing a little and avoiding her eyes

She smiled and they said their goodbyes as Enma walked back home

*a few hours later*

Sakura got out of the shower and looked at the pile of books on her desk. 'I might as well behave like a student since I'm enrolled' she thought and started on some homework. She was just finishing when she felt it. One of them was nearby. Sakurai had taught her how to track Pandora's followers by tracking his flames. If she payed attention she could sense the white flame controlling them. How had they found her so quickly. Then she remembered her fight with the boys. She had used her flame then and if they were patrolling nearby they would have sensed it. This could only mean that there were more of them free now since they had enough to send a patrol to Japan. Sakura had grown out her hair and knew she could blend in and stay hidden for a little while longer. But if one them found her it would bring the entire force down on her head. She looked in the mirror and saw her bright green eyes. 'I'm going to needs some lens' she realized with apprehension. Her eyes were bright like her mother's and she didn't want to loose this reminder of her but she knew they made her stand out too much. She decided to get some lens after school tomorrow. She would keep this new information to herself for now because she didn't want to pressure the boys. She told them 4 days so she would just be very careful for next 4 days. With this determination in mind she headed to bed. There were times like these in past when they were right upon her and she would stay awake the entire night to keep watch. But that would drain her and she would slip up so she had learned long ago that to keep on her toes she needed to rest. Besides the feeling was faint, they might be in a nearby city but they hadn't come to this town yet. She turned off the lights and went to sleep.

*the next morning*

Sakura had woken up a little late and had to leave in a hurry, on her way she had realized just how many people had spoken to her yesterday. 'What will they think if I show up with a different eye color?', she thought. It would really just make her stand out even more. She decided not to get the eye lens and instead decided to just lay low and not get involved in anything flashy. Just as the thought crossed her mind she saw them; a group of boys laughing loudly at something. They were fairly large boys, probably seniors, and they were wearing her school's uniform. They seemed like trouble and she decided to ignore them. But curiosity got the better of her and she looked over to see what they were laughing at. And she saw him. It was Enma, his face was bruised and he seemed to have a black eye. Looking at him she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time, not since the night her parents were killed. She felt rage, pure hot rage.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" she yelled heading towards the group

"Huh, who the hell're you?" one of the boys turned and said to her

Enma looked up and seeing her he quickly got up, "Sakura? Wait don't-"he started but one of the other boys cut him off, "What? You know this little shit" he said roughly pushing Enma to the ground

Seeing what he did she couldn't old back anymore, before the bully knew what happened he was on the ground with his nose bleeding. Sakura knew plenty of martial arts too and she had used on of her techniques to kick the brat's face in. He lay on the ground moaning in pain as his friends stood in shock.

Sakura took a quick step towards them and the two boys ran off screaming dragging their bumbling friend with them. She watched them go then hurried over to Enma.

"That looks painful" she said looking at his face as she helped him up

"It's ok, I'm used to it. Besides you shouldn't have done that now they might come after you too" he said wincing. His back hurt from where the bullies had kicked him and it hurt to stand up.

"It's fine. I could beat them up blindfolded with both hands tied behind my back. I just hate guys like that. They're weak so they hurt others to feel better about themselves. It makes me sick" she said

Enma laughed a little, "You sound like some sort of hero of justice"

Sakura blushed, "I didn't mean to…" she mumbled

"I didn't mean as a bad thing. It was kind of cool"

"T-thanks…you look pretty bad here I have some first aid stuff with me" she said and in response to his curious face she said' "I get injured sometimes if I'm ambushed so I always keep emergency supplies on hand. I'll patch you up and we'll head to school" she said and began cleaning his cuts with antiseptic.

Enma hissed at the sting of the alcohol. But Sakura worked fast and before he knew it she had bandaged his cuts and handed him a cold pack for his eye. It was disturbing how fast she was at it; she probably had a lot of practice working on more serious injuries.

"Stop looking so sorry. I'm fine and I always will be fine" she said noticing her look. She didn't understand why this kid was so concerned about her. She definitely had some connection to him and to Sawada but she couldn't figure out what it was, she hated not knowing. 'I need to find Sakurai and fast' she thought and as they headed to school.


	4. Chapter 4

**-** _ **Hello and thank you for the nice reviews. Sorry this took me a while but this one is really long so I hope you guys enjoy it. I've added more action into this one although the start is still conversations. I believe the next chapter will contain mostly action so I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you for reading. Oh and I'm not sure how to reply to reviews so I'm sorry about that.-**_

*at the school*

Tsuna was already on his desk. He had left early so he could talk to the others before school started. Sasagawa had gone to a different school but somehow Hibari-san and Yamamoto were at Namimori High too. But now that he was here he was having second thoughts about asking them. He had no idea how to approach Hibari-san about it or how he could really explain the situation to Yamamoto. Since entering High School he had started taking baseball even more seriously so Tsuna didn't want to distract him from that. Hibari-san had quickly formed something akin to a disciplinary committee with his fellow committee members from middle school. Apparently the disciplinary committee at the High School was not up to his standards, although Tsuna thought they were nice people. Then his thought turned to the other members of his family. He had no idea where to find Mukuro, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to find him. His thoughts turned to Lambo, he was the one Tsuna really didn't want involved, Lambo was still just a child.

"Ugh, why did I agree to this?" he yelled, just as Kyoko and Haru came into the room

"Tsuna-san? It's rare to see you here so early" Haru said

"Ahh, Well I had something to do so I left early. Um, good morning" Tsuna replied, a little flustered

"Good Morning" both girls said

"Um Tsuna-kun? Are you alright? It's just that I thought I heard you yell out" Kyoko said

"Oh, um yes I'm ok" Tsuna said, he didn't want to get the girls mixed up in some mess again

"Oye, so you're here" a voice called from the other door

Tsuna turned and saw Hibari-san walk into the room

"Ahh, Hi-Hi-Hibari-san?" he stammered

"The kid said you needed something from me so I came here" Hibari-san said

Tsuna just stared at him. Reborn had started moving even before he'd made up his mind. Tsuna saw Haru and Kyoko looking at him.

"Um, it's not a big deal I just needed your help with something. Let's talk on the rooftop. I'll see you guys in a little bit" Tsuna said quickly moving out of the room with Hibari following him

"Bye- bye" Haru said quickly after him

"I hope everything is alright" Kyoko said looking at the empty doorway

"Hmm" was all Haru said in response

*at the rooftop*

"So what do you want" Hibari said.

Tsuna jumped at his tone. "Um, well I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with something…um well it's about the Vongola" Tsuna said hesitatingly. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to convince Hibari-san but he decided that he would at least try.

Hibari seemed to be thinking about it but he kept glaring at Tsuna. "Well I don't really mind as long as you don't end up damaging the school" Hibari said

"Really?" Tsuna was resolved to get his help but this was too easy

"Well the kid said that it would be interesting if I got involved." He said and walked away

Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. Well he'd agreed but Tsuna wasn't sure how involved he would really get. But he was glad that he'd agreed. That's when the bell went off

"Ahh, crap" Tsuna yelled and ran to class

*in the classroom*

"Ah, Sakura-chan! Good morning" Haru said as Sakura and Enma walked into class

"Oh Enma too? What were you to up to?" she prodded

"I don't follow" Sakura said raising an eyebrow.

"Well you know walking to school together" Haru said with a mischievous grin

"Haru?" Kyoko said in disbelief. They didn't know Sakura that well so Kyoko thought it was rude to make remarks like that

"You're misunderstanding" Enma yelled, blushing

"Yes, I was merely rescuing the princess" Sakura said

"Eh?" Haru and Kyoko said in unison

"Wait, that's gonna make them misunderstand even more. She just helped me out with some bullies" Enma said, trying to save the situation

"Oh, I see. I hope you're alright" Kyoko said before Haru could say something to make things weird again

"Um yes I'm fine. Thanks to Sakura" Enma replied

"No need to thank me. It's a knight's duty to help a damsel in distress" she replied giggling and taking her seat

Enma stammered, trying to come up with a reply. But before he could say anything a voice came from behind him

"Yo, is Tsuna here?" Yamamoto said walking into the room

"Yamamoto-san. Good morning" Haru said.

"He was here a little while ago but he left with Hibari-san to the rooftop. Did you need something?" Kyoko said

"Uh well, you know that kid that's always with him came and told me Tsuna needed my help" he replied

"Reborn-san again?" Haru said

"Again?" Enma said recovering from the previous conversation

"Uh yes, Hibari-san said Reborn spoke to him too" Haru said explaining

"Ah, then it must be about…" Enma trailed of looking at Sakura

She realized what he meant and nodded.

"Um, is everything alright?" Kyoko asked

"Uh yes, It's nothing to worry about. Sakura just needed help with some stuff so she asked us. It's nothing to worry about really" Enma said. He knew Tsuna wouldn't want the girls involved in this.

"Oh, I see" Kyoko said. She wished Tsuna and the others wouldn't hide things from her and Haru but she trusted them so she didn't pry. She turned to Haru who simply smiled and nodded indicating that she shared Kyoko's sentiment.

Just then the bell went off

"Ah, I need to get back to my class. Tell Tsuna I'll come by during lunch" Yamamoto said running out

"Will do" Haru yelled after him

Tsuna ran in a few minutes later just before the teacher and took his seat. Since the teacher walked in soon after, Haru just threw him a note with Yamamoto's message. Tsuna tensed as he saw it. He still wasn't sure if he wanted Yamamoto involved, but it seemed that once again Reborn had made the decision for him. 'Why was he so adamant about this issue?' Tsuna thought as the teacher began the class.

*lunch time*

Tsuna sighed. He hadn't been able to concentrate at all because his thoughts kept returning to how to speak to Yamamoto. Just before he started sinking into those thoughts again, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Um, I- ah I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." Sakura said. She looked just as troubled as he felt

"Eh?" Tsuna replied

"Well I didn't know that this would trouble you this much. I thought your life at school was just a cover but it's clear that that's not the case at all. So I'm sorry. Even though you have a normal life, I…but you have to understand at this point I had no choice. If Pandora escapes then…then-" She stammered

"It's ok." Tsuna said trying to calm her. "I want to help you. It's just I'm a little reluctant to get others involved. I can tell you aren't the kind of person to selfishly involve others into your problems so you don't need to justify asking for help and it's not like you're forcing me" Tsuna said smiling

"Thank you. Really thank you. You and Enma, I don't know how I'm ever gonna repay you but thank you"

"Is everything alright?" Haru said walking over with Kyoko and Gokudera behind her. Gokudera had been late coming in so he had no idea what happened in the morning.

"Tenth, I'm sorry for being late this morning" He said walking up to Tsuna

"Ah that's ok. But well there is something I would like to talk to you about. We'll talk as soon as Yamamoto gets here" Tsuna replied

"Che, that baseball nut?" Gokudera said, making an annoyed face

Tsuna just laughed nervously in response just as Yamamoto walked into the room.

"Tsuna, Reborn said you needed me" he said walking over to the group

"Reborn-san? Then this is-" Gokudera started

"Ah, well let's go discuss this outside" Tsuna said interrupting him.

Gokudera quickly stopped, realizing Tsuna's intentions.

"Yes, that's a good idea" he said quickly

"Tsuna! Would you like me relay a message to my brother?" Kyoko said as they started to leave.

"K-kyoko-san. You don't have to, I mean…" Tsuna said nervously, not knowing what to say

"It's ok. I trust you Tsuna" Kyoko said with a smile

"Kyoko-san. Um well if you could ask him to meet me sometime in the next two days" he said blushing a little at her comment

"Got it" she said cheerfully

"Haru will help too if you need help" Haru said chiming up

"Thank you, you two" Tsuna said as the boys began to leave with Sakura following them

"I would like to discuss something with you as well" she said

*on the rooftop*

Sakura stood aside to let Tsuna and the others discuss. She didn't want to pressure him by listening in so she stood out of ear shot looking of the roof at the front entrance of the school.

Tsuna wasn't entirely sure of how to begin so he decided to just tell Yamamoto the entire story. When he was finished telling him Sakura's story he stood quietly waiting for a reply.

"Ah so it's the mafia thing again right?" Yamamoto said

"Um well yes. I was hoping that you'd be able to help but if you can't it's not really a problem" Tsuna replied

"Of course I'll help." Yamamoto said

"R-really. Thank you Yamamoto-kun" Tsuna said. He was surprised that everyone had agreed so readily. Then he thought of what Reborn had told him. Maybe it was really ok to rely on his friends.

"Um, I've spoken to my family as well." Enma said

"Oh, did they agree?" Tsuna asked

"Ah well more or less. They weren't entirely ready to help but for some reason Adelheid convinced them. So I guess we're more or less ready and we're ahead of the deadline too" he said

"I'm still not sure if I trust that girl" Gokudera said, looking over at Sakura as Tsuna waved her over

"I think she's a nice person" Enma said, touching his cheek where she had bandaged him

"Are you guys finished discussing?" she said

"Ah well yes and it seems that most of friends agreed to help you" Tsuna said

Sakura brightened up and bowed her head saying, "Thank you so much to all of you"

"Ah you don't need to do that" Tsuna said

"You're pretty interesting" Yamamoto said laughing

Sakura lifted her head and blushed realizing she might have over reacted.

"Um, you are Yamamoto Takeshi, correct?" Sakura asked

"Ah yea nice to meet ya" Yamamoto said in his usual cheerful tone

"Um yes, nice to meet you. My name is Akagi Sakura." She replied

She had thought about what she had sensed last night since that morning. After seeing Tsuna interact with his family and seeing Enma getting hurt she didn't want to keep it from them. She could probably hold off the scouts but in case she wasn't able to she didn't want them attacking these guys and those they held dear while they didn't even know they were in danger.

"I- I have something to tell you guys!" She said, maybe a bit too loudly

"Uh, ok" Enma said

"You see before she disappeared Sakurai taught me how to sense Pandora and his followers…and last night… I…um I sensed two of them" she said

"What?" Tsuna exclaimed

"I know I said you had four days and I intend to keep that promise. I plan on holding them off until you've made a concrete decision after discussing with your family properly. I just wanted to tell you because, well if I'm going to ask for your help I don't feel it's right for me to keep secrets from you and I want you to be properly prepared" she said trying to explain

"Um well, I've already discussed with my family. Tsuna still needs to ask Ryohei-kun but if you need help in the meantime you can ask me." Enma said

"That's right. If something happens you shouldn't try to handle it by yourself. We're helping you now. Kay?" Yamamoto said as Tsuna nodded in agreement. Gokudera simply grunted.

"Thank you" Sakura said smiling

Just then the bell began to ring.

"Ah I guess we should head back. I didn't even get to eat any lunch" Tsuna said

"I'm sorry" Sakura said

"Ah, you don't need to apologize" he replied as they all headed back to the classroom.

*at the end of the day*

Sakura had stayed behind a little trying to plan her next move. She'd decided against the contacts but she thought she should still try to figure out a way to hide herself more. She sighed and decided for now she would head home. The morning's incident came to her mind. 'I hope those guys weren't a part of a gang or something' she thought. The last thing she needed was to make a name for herself among the less savory characters in town. She'd reached the shoe lockers and she stopped when she saw Enma waiting by the entrance. She quickly got her shoes and walked over to him.

"Why are you still here?" she asked

"Ah well. I was waiting for you" he replied startled at her rather sudden appearance

"For me? Why?" she asked confused

"Ah well I just wanted to make sure that the guys from this morning didn't come after you again" he replied

"Huh? Oh you didn't need to do that. I can easily handle those guys myself" she said, pretending to flex her biceps and walking towards the gate

"Oh well, I just wanted to make sure I guess" he replied going after her

"Ah by the way. Those guys, they're not part of some gang or anything right?" Sakura asked

"Eh oh I'm not sure. I don't know much about them either" he replied

"Oh I see" she said

"Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, well I just didn't want to gain a reputation with the gangs. It's not good for me to draw attention to myself right now you know" she said turning to him

"Oh I see, that makes sense I suppose" he said

"Yea, it would be pretty-" she stopped walking abruptly

"Are you ok?" Enma said stopping a few steps ahead of her

"They're close. Why are they so close?" she said quietly as the three boys from that morning walked through the gate. As soon as she saw them she realized what that feeling had meant and who it was that they had sent. This guy wasn't just a mere scout. She raked her brain trying to figure out how they could have found her so quickly. Enma grabbed her shoulders snapping her back into reality

"Sakura, are you ok? What's wrong? You suddenly went still." He said with a worried expression on his face.

'What the hell am I doing?' she thought. Now was not the time to freeze up.

"Enma, I'm sorry. I think I'm gonna have to go back on my word." She said with a sad smile

"What do you mean?" he asked even more concerned

"You see those boys walking over here?" she said nodding her head to the boys slowly crossing the yard towards them

"Yes" Enma said tensing up as he remembered he event of the morning. He knew those guys wouldn't back of so easily but he wouldn't let them hurt her. As the thought crossed his mind he turned to face them, hiding Sakura behind him.

"No wait, you don't understand. Those guys aren't just some bullies. They're-" before she could finish one of the boys charged forward knocking Enma down as the loud-mouthed one grabbed her. She quickly activated her flame and channeling her flame into her hand punched the guy in the face.

"These guys are under the control of the Puppeteer. If you don't fight back then they'll really kill you" she said as she rushed over and kicked away the guy about to punch Enma in the face.

"What?...Ok, I got it" he said putting his ring on his finger and activating his own flame

Sakura gritted her teeth. This was the worst case scenario. The Puppeteer wasn't the kind of guy to come face his enemy by himself. He probably wasn't even anywhere in the vicinity. She was hoping to dispose of the scouts quickly if they found her so they couldn't report back. But that plan wouldn't work against someone like this guy.

"Oh that was fast. You've gotten quite good haven't you little lamb" the loud mouth said getting up from the ground

Sakura simply stared at him angrily

"And it seems you've made some new friends. Well it's not like we didn't expect this. My acquaintance has gone now to greet you other new friends" he said with a sinister smile. There was something about the smile really bugged Enma beyond the evil look factor.

"What the hell are talking about?" Enma said in a low angry tone

"Oh this one's quite feisty huh?" the guy said still with that grin. And that's when it hit Enma, the guy's eyes were completely blank as if has asleep and looking back he realized how his movements had been strange and jerky too. Now he realized why Sakura called this guy Puppeteer

"Answer him, who the hell are you with and how the hell did you find me?" Sakura said finally speaking up

"Ah she speaks, she speaks" the guy said jumping gleefully still in those jerky motions

"Well I think you know the man who accompanied me. Well calling that savage a man might be an overstatement" the same voice spoke but coming from the other boy on the ground this time

"You don't mean Beast?" Sakura yelled out. This was bad, that guy was brutal there was no telling what he would do if he found Tsuna. In all the encounters she had had with him he'd always attacked anyone who got in his way, be it women or children. She could only hope that Tsuna wasn't at home or with the girls. That bastard wouldn't hesitate to mow them or Tsuna's family down. 'Crap, crap, crap' she thought. She had to get to Tsuna and fast. She didn't know how many people the Puppeteer had his grip on but she hoped she could get out of here in time.

*at the park*

"Reborn, why did you drag me out here? We already have some soda at home and why did we stop here anyway?" Tsuna said. While Tsuna was heading back home Reborn had suddenly said he wanted to get Soda and had dragged Tsuna with him and for some reason he brought him to the park.

"Tsuna, you really are an idiot" Reborn said. Just then the impact from something large hitting the ground in front of him knocked Tsuna off his feet.

"What the-" he started but then stopped as he saw the thing in front of him. It was a big, burly guy, wearing suspenders. His large amount of chest hair was visible from his badly buttoned shirt. His arms were also covered in hair. The guy was huge. He towered over Tsuna with bulging muscles and a tall height.

"Ahhh! Who are you?" Tsuna yelled backing away quickly

"He's the guy that's been following us since we left the school. Really! How did you miss his presence" Reborn said yelling at Tsuna

"Oh oh, you're pretty good and here I thought you were just a baby or somethin'. Guess I'as wrong" the big guy said in a booming voice

Tsuna hiccupped in response and started pulling the Vongola ring from around his neck

"I'd like to ask ya some questions but that bastard told me to make quick work of ya both so guess I'll jus' kill ya fer now" the guy said and then he moved faster thena Tsuna thought a guy his size could possibly move and before he knew what was happening the guy punched Tsuna in the stomach and sent him flying into the fence

"Tsuna!" Reborn yelled and Tsuna stood up, a brilliant orange flame on his head.

"Oh so ya survived that eh? Well I guess ya ain't half bad." The man said

"Who are you?" Tsuna asked

"Huh oh guess I forgot huh? Call me Beast, well ya won't live long enough to use that name" he said and once again rushed at Tsuna. Tsuna used his flame to block the guy and with a yell he pushed him back. Before he guy could recover from the shock Tsuna rushed him and punched him in the face. Beast went flying and rammed into the swings

"I wouldn't be to sure about that" Reborn said as the big man slumped on the ground

"I'm going back to the school. Enma and Sakura are still there and he mentioned another guy" Tsuna said flying up into the air but before he could get too far a large rock was hurled at him. He quickly dodged it and turned to see the big man on his feet again. There was a large hole on the ground to his side and Tsuna realized he hadn't hurled a rock at him. Beast and pulled up a big chunk of the ground and used it as a weapon. This guys was stronger than anticipated

"Oye oye, where ya flying of to pipsqueak. Ya think you can kill me that easily. I'm gonna smash ya to a pulp" Beast said with rage in his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

_******Hello everyone. I am sorry it took me a while to upload this, things came up and I didn't have much time to write. I will try to be faster with uploads from now on. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading. Please send me any feedback you think of, positive or negative******_

*back at the school entrance*

"Now little lamb, why don't you just give up? If you do we'll leave these guys alone" said the loud mouthed guy.

Sakura thought about his offer. The Puppeteer was a schemer but she knew that only made him a good strategist. He was out-powered right now so if she could get him to agree just to take her then maybe Enma would be free to go help Tsuna.

"I'm not leaving you" Enma said noticing the look on her face. "We agreed to help you. The fight came a little sooner than expected but the promise still stands"

She smiled at him realizing how serious he was about helping her. Even though she had kept information from them he was still willing to help. _The least I can do is go all out, even if I'm still not sure of my accuracy it's worth a shot,_ she thought remembering of how she had escaped the puppeteer the last time he had attacked her.

"Ok so like I said before these guys are being controlled by the Puppeteer. Somewhere on their body there should be a small parasite looking bug, that's the thing he uses to control them. I'm not sure exactly how he uses it but the last time I ran into him, or at least ran into his puppets they all had this thing on them. Last time I was able to break his hold by destroying these parasites. But the problem is, I can't tell how many people he has control over, I know he has a limit of how many people he can control at one time but I don't know what that is. Theoretically, the entire town could be under his control" she said

"That would be a problem. What about the other guy? The one after Tsuna" Enma asked

"His name is Beast. He's not as sophisticated as this guy but he has incredible strength. I've seen him pulverize entire buildings with his bare hands." She said

"Then Tsuna should be fine. I know he's capable of the same" Enma said

"I hope you're right. Well we need to worry about ourselves first." She said thinking. The last time it took her a while to find the parasites and that time she had lots of places to hide in a big city. That strategy might not work here. That's when her mind went back to her fight with Enma and Tsuna. "Wait, that technique you used against me can you do it to these guys? Push them to the ground?"

"Yes, I can do that. But if you get close to them it could affect you to" he said

"Oh well, I don't need to get close, I just need them to stop moving. Just long enough for me to find the parasites and take aim" she replied. Enma raised a brow at her last comment but before he could ask her what she meant, a voice boomed behind them.

"What are you two whispering about?" the loud mouth said rushing them, moving faster than he should be capable of. The other two followed and Sakura and Enma were surrounded in seconds.

"How can they move so fast?" Enma asked looking quickly for a way to get out of the circle of bullies

"He's pulled all the plugs. Normally people don't use their full strength because it puts too much strain on their body but the puppeteer pulls all those restraints. You could say this is their hidden strength but keeping this up for a long time is dangerous for their bodies. We need to get them free quickly" she replied

Enma nodded and realized the only way to escape was up he used his flames and jumped high into the air and out of the circle. He realized that Sakura had done the same; he hadn't realized she could use her flames in that way.

"I learned a thing or two from our fight" she said landing next to him. She looked and saw the bullies were already moving towards them.

"Do it now" she said. She knew he couldn't hold them down for long. There's no telling what that power could do to their already weakened bodies. So she again pushed her flames into her feet and jumped into the air

As soon as Enma used his power to prevent them from moving, she used the technique Sakurai had taught her and tracked the parasites on the bullies' bodies. Surprising herself she found them quickly. One on the arm of the tall one, one on the neck of the loudmouth, and one on the leg of the last one. She took aim and concentrated her flame to her fingertip and shot it out. She hadn't used the technique much but she knew that concentrating her flames and using them to speed up time of whatever they touched she could essentially create a bullet that quickly degraded whatever it touched, but since this flame burned out quickly it wouldn't cause much harm to the bullies.

Enma saw Sakura shoot something out of her finger pointed at the boys struggling to move under the increased gravity, as soon as the white flame hit them they collapsed with a small white flame burning on their bodies

"I aimed it specifically at the insects so it'll burn out without harming them. It's a little trick I learned but I'm not too good at it so I can't do it on moving targets so I needed you to hold them down." She said smiling

"I see, there's a lot of different ways to use that flame" he replied, if Sakura could learn to harness the power of her flame fully he was sure these enemies wouldn't be a problem. He realized just how powerful she could become, that was probably why Pandora wanted her gone so badly. For some reason it only made him feel more protective of her and filled him with a strange nostalgia. He was about to comment on this when he saw the strange look on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked, she seemed to be concentrating on something very hard

"I sense something" she said, she had felt this once before during an encounter with the Puppeteer. That was the first time she had found and destroyed a parasite. That time she was more concerned with escaping but now that she really paid attention she could sense a weak white flame. It felt like a thin tendril leading somewhere towards the business part of town. It was fading fast.

"If I'm right I might be able to find the Puppeteer" she said realizing the tendril was probably the Puppeteer retrieving the flame he'd put in the parasites. "But we need to make sure the others are ok, you go check on your and Tsuna's friends and I'll track this flame" she said and quickly directed her flames to her feet again and jumped into the air flying in the direction she felt the faint and quickly fading flames coming from.

Enma looked after her and the decided to check on Haru and Sasagawa-san. If these guys had found them at the school, it was possible they would go after the most vulnerable people they knew at the school. He knew the girls had gone back together so he headed in the direction they usually took. He figured if he went high enough he could see them.

*in the park*

Tsuna dodged another clump of land. He was beginning to get tired.

"What's wrong brat? Yer slowin down." The beast said with a laugh

Tsuna didn't have enough time to charge an attack with the monster throwing chunks of earth at him but he could tell that the beast was starting to get tired too. He was fast but Tsuna knew he was faster, if he could get close enough he could use Zero Point Breakthrough to limit his movements. Just as he finished the thought the beast threw another chunk at him. He didn't have enough time to dodge it so he punched it to break it into pieces. He noticed too late that the beast had jumped after him and hid behind the piece of earth.

"I've got you know you brat" he said and punched Tsuna in the stomach sending him plummeting to the ground. Tsuna fell into one of the holes. "One of my punches is enough to bring a whole mountain down, you ain't gettin up from that" the beast said laughing loudly. His laugh abruptly stopped as he saw Tsuna rising to his feet. He stared in surprise at the scrawny kid and whispered "Yer a tough one huh". Tsuna charged at the beast at full speed and before he had time to react he was in position. Seeing the change in Tsuna from hyper mode the beast made a face.

"What? You giving up?" he said. He didn't see what the kid was doing; he thought that maybe he'd timed out.

"No" was all Tsuna said before activating his attack. By the time the beast realized what had happened his body up till his neck was covered. He struggled to escape but the ice held strong.

"What? What the hell is this?" he shouted as Tsuna let go and flew up in the air. He gave no response and started charging the x burner. He knew that it likely wouldn't kill the beast and he wasn't sure that the breakthrough would hold against his brute strength so he had decided to knock him out.

*at the same time with Sakura*

The trail she was following was fading quickly. She sped across the sky as the last of it faded. She saw that she was in front of a high end hotel. She had felt the last of the flame from the window in one of the top floor rooms. She looked around and realized that the tall building allowed a very good view of the entire town. This would be a good place for someone like the puppeteer to make his base so she decided to take a gamble and covering her face flew through the window. She had no time to ask the front desk for access to the room and they probably wouldn't give it to her. The room was dark.

"Well this is a bit unexpected. I never thought you'd be so...proactive" said a voice from her left and without hesitation Sakura fired her flame into the area. She heard a yelp and a tall, weak looking man fell into the light from the window. He was wearing a black suit with a long, dark coat. It didn't really surprise her. It made sense that he wouldn't have much combat power. But he'd spoken with confidence. She quickly searched her surroundings to see if there was some kind of trap but only felt the white flame from the man now getting to his feet and attracting her attention.

"That was close" he said brushing himself. "You really are quite a brute aren't you little lamb but I guess even you can get tired?" he continued walking around her

"What are you talking about? It doesn't matter if you dodged that one." Sakura said charging her flame again

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that" he replied before jumping out of the window

"What!?" Sakura yelped and ran to the edge but as the man fell he was suddenly jerked horizontally.

"Crap" she muttered and flew after him

"Catch me if you can" he said laughing and dodging her flames as she shot at him.

Sakura was beginning to get tired. She'd never used her flames to fly before but it seemed to take a lot of energy. She realized too late what his earlier comment meant as her vision began to blur and her speed slowed down. Her target just laughed at her lack of control.

"Be careful not to fall little lamb, not even you could survive this fall." He said in a mocking tone

"Shut up" she said speeding up. He only laughed in response and sped up as well. That's when she realized he was getting lower. She took notice of their direction and realized they were headed to the park and she could see Tsuna in the distance as she focused her eyes.

"That idiot. I told him to keep the kid from using that" the puppeteer said. He turned and sped up even more heading straight for Tsuna.

"Wait!" Sakura said rushing after him but her flames were weakening and she couldn't catch him.

Just as Tsuna was about to fire he felt something ram into his side, it knocked him to the side and instead of hitting the beast the x burner hit the ground next to him. Tsuna regained his senses to see a tall thin man flying towards the beast. Rather than flying it looked like the man was being pulled, he stopped just before ramming into the concentrated flames surrounding the beast.

"You idiot, I told you about the kid's attacks and you still managed to get caught" the man yelled at the immobile beast.

"Oh shut up. I couldn't stand your squeaky voice long enough for that" the beast growled making another effort to escape

The man glared at the beast and said, "Stop doing that you can't escape from that...at least not without my help" he finished with a grin. The beast simply growled in response, he hated having to rely on his coward of an associate for help. _If it weren't for Lord Pandora's orders I'd stomp that stupid face of yours into the ground,_ he thought glaring at the thin man

"Tsuna, are you ok?" Sakura said catching up. She was breathing hard and having a hard time keeping herself suspended.

"What are you doing here and what happened to you?" he responded

"I was chasing that tall man; he's one of Pandora's. I see you've already met Beast" she said noticing his haggard state.

"Yea and I can beat him if you keep them busy" Tsuna said

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you" a voice said from behind them as well as from the puppeteer. They both turned to see Haru walking into the park holding a small knife on the neck of a dazed Kyoko.

"Kyoko-chan! Haru!" Tsuna said flying down and running to them. "What're you doing, Haru?" he said, confusion on his face.

"She's under the puppeteer's control. She can't hear or respond to you" Sakura said landing roughly next to him.

"Exactly and if you don't want her to end up killing her friend then you will aim that oh so powerful attack at the little lamb. The brute is useless at this point and I need some time to get him out" the puppeteer spoke

"What!?" Tsuna spoke turning to him

"You bastard" Sakura said

"Yep you heard me. Now hurry up" he said and as Sakura watched the girls, Haru pressed the knife on Kyoko's throat causing a small drop of blood to drip down her neck. She didn't know what to do. She wondered if she could stand to be hit by Tsuna's attack. But realized the chance was pretty close to zero when she saw the damage it had caused. She clenched her fists thinking of what to do. If she could use her flames to reverse the damage while he attacked it might work. But in her weakened state she wasn't sure if she could.

"I can see you desperately looking for a way out, but give up little lamb. You can't escape this time. Truth is that I sent my puppets to this town after you the same day you arrived. I've been watching you and I know those two are important to you and your friend." the puppeteer spoke

"What? But I shook you guys off" Sakura spoke trying to think back to a time she felt even a hint of Pandora's flame

"We know about that sensing ability of yours. We've known for a while. You see if I only use one puppet my range is quite big and I know with the small amount of flame in my beetles you aren't able to sense the flame unless you look hard for it. If you didn't know I was the one after you, I figured you wouldn't look that hard" he spoke

"No way, then Pandora…he already knows" Sakura said tightening her fists. "Then this is all-" she started, with a devastated face

"It doesn't change anything; even if Pandora already knows your whereabouts he thinks these two have you. We should still have time before more people are sent. Since he has so many puppets here I doubt he has enough power to send one back to where ever he chased you from." Tsuna said. "You're not alone. We can fight these guys off. Now get ready" he said. His gaze was in the sky above the puppeteer

"What're you-" Sakura started and stopped when she heard the puppeteer yell. She turned to see him on the ground as if held down by an invisible force. She quickly realized what was going on and before he could compose himself she rushed and with a chop to her hand made Haru drop the knife while pulling Kyoko away from her. She quickly focused her senses and finding the location of the parasites fired her flames. She caught Haru and Kyoko as they fell limp, freed from the puppeteer's control.

As soon as Enma had pushed the puppeteer down Tsuna had flew into the air and started charging the x burner. As the thin man realized what had happened, him and the beast were engulfed in Tsuna's flames. Enma flew down to the three girls when Tsuna fired.

"They'll be ok now" Sakura said.

As the flame cleared Tsuna joined them, he was breathing hard. Sakura looked bad too. Enma turned to the smoke. If their enemies had survived then he'd be only one left to fight them. The other two were in no condition to continue. But as the smoke and dust cleared it was obvious the two men wouldn't get up anytime soon.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. With them subdued maybe she could get some more info from them about Pandora and maybe even about Sakurai. Just as she finished that thought the beast regained his consciousness. A good portion of his body was still in the ice but he lifted his head.

"I'll fight him" Enma said noticing Tsuna tensing. But before he had a chance the beast started yelling.

"No wait, I can still fight. Don't do it my lord, please" he yelled and before anyone had a chance to make a move both him and the puppeteer were engulfed in white flames. Tsuna turned to Sakura and saw the look of horror on her face. "Pandora" she whispered as the flames grew.

"DON'T" she yelled as she saw Enma making a move to get closer to the flames

"We have to save them" he said quickly and made to get closer. _Even if they're enemies this isn't right,_ he thought

"If you get any closer then you'll be engulfed too" Sakura yelled rushing up and grabbing his arm to keep him from getting closer.

"So we can't do anything?" Tsuna spoke as the flames died down. There was nothing but scorch marks left where the two men had been. "He killed his own men?" Tsuna said clenching his fists

"He might have just moved them but with the way the beast screamed maybe not. Considering what I know about Pandora it's possible" Sakura muttered

"Crap" Enma spoke up turning back to the two. They were both in bad shape and Sakura had a haunted look on her face as she stepped away from him. He realized that at this point there wasn't much else they could do. Neither Tsuna nor Sakura could fight without resting first and they had to get Haru and Kyoko back to their homes. "For now you need to rest. We can plan our next step later. I will go home and get my family ready. If we're attacked again before Tsuna can speak to the rest of his family we will handle it. No matter how brutal he is we can beat him with all of us working together." he said hoping to put Sakura at ease and keep her from doing anything reckless.

"Yea, yea I'm sure we can" she said cheering up a little. It was obvious she was still rattled but at least she didn't look completely hopeless. She was surprised that even after that they were still willing to help her.

"I can help too, I still have to wait before Sasagawa-san can join but the others already agreed" Tsuna said

"Thank you both of you. I promise I will repay your for this somehow" she said as her flame extinguished. But she felt faint all of a sudden and lost her balance. Enma caught her before she fell. She looked up and their faces nearly touched.

"Thank you, I think you're right. We need to rest" she said regaining her senses and standing upright again not noticing the significance of what had just happened. Tsuna put out his flames too; he was too worried about Kyoko-chan to notice the small interaction.

"I'll take Haru-san and Sasagawa-san to their homes. You two should head back. I'll see you in school" he said quickly and flew off after carefully lifting the two girls before Tsuna or Sakura could respond. Tsuna had wanted to take them back himself but he trusted Enma so he didn't try to go after him.

They both looked at each other but neither had an explanation for why he was in such a hurry to leave. They didn't notice the red on his face as he had rushed away.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I think if possible I'd like for us all to come together sometime soon and plan what to do next." Sakura said

"That sounds like a good idea" Tsuna said looking around.

"Is everything ok?" Sakura asked

"Yea, I just can't find reborn. Don't worry about it he's probably around somewhere. You should get back home" he said

"No I'll help you look. If he got taken with the two then-" she started

"Ah don't worry. Reborn wouldn't get caught that easily. He probably went back. I'll check at home." Tsuna said, trying to reassure her. Although he was a little worried. But he started heading home as Sakura went back. He was worried but she kept reassuring him that she could get back. Tsuna wanted to go with her but he also wanted to make sure Reborn was ok so he decided to trust her and head home. He walked quickly even though his whole body hurt. "I'm home" he yelled quickly waking home.

"Ah, you're finally back. You shouldn't keep your friends waiting even if you are playing some important game and you even got your clothes dirty" his mother chided him

"What do you mean?" Tsuna said

"Oh Reborn-kun came back a little while ago with a friend of yours. He told me you were playing baseball with your friends, I didn't know you were into that" she said

"Ah, well I don't think I'm too good at it" Tsuna said laughing a little, there goes Reborn with his weird excuses. "I'll go see my friend now" he continued rushing up to his room. He burst in and saw Ryohei sitting on the floor with reborn

"So you're finally back" Reborn said looking up

"Sasagawa-san? But why?" Tsuna said in surprise

"His competition ended early and I saw him on my way back so I invited him over" Reborn explained

"Reborn said you needed to speak with me. He said you needed my help." Ryohei spoke up

"Oh well, I don't want to push you but yes I do need your help." Tsuna said sitting down

"I'll explain everything to you" he said

*with Enma*

He dropped Kyoko and Haru at their homes and rang the bell he waited until someone came out and took them inside before heading home himself. He didn't know how their family would react but he figured him being there would probably make things worse. He hurried home afterwards to let the others know about the day.

*with Sakura*

She was more exhausted then she'd thought. She stumbled her way home and when she was finally through the door to the apartment she didn't even bother to go to her room and collapsed on the couch in the sitting room.

"If you sleep there you'll have back and neck pain" a female voice spoke out from the dining table. Sakura shot up despite her exhaustion as she recognized the voice.

"Lila!? What are you doing here" she said as a young woman with short, blond hair walked into the room

"Of course I came to take care of you. Now you should shower and let me treat your wounds before you fall asleep. I'm guessing you burnt yourself out so you shouldn't use your power anymore tonight. Come on into the bathroom" the woman replied with a gentle smile but Sakura could tell she was both angry and worried seeing her in such bad shape. Sakura smiled nervously and got up.


End file.
